Norwegian Polar Institute

The Norwegian Polar Institute (in Norwegian: Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's national institution for polar research. It is run under the auspices of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The institute organizes expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions and runs a research station at Ny-Ålesund. Its offices are in Tromsø and Svalbard, together with a research station in Queen Maud Land, and employs approximately 150 persons. It has the responsibility to enforce international treaties regarding Antarctic activities by Norwegian citizens or corporations.

The institute was founded as Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser by Adolf Hoel in 1928.

Atmospheric levels of the main greenhouse gas have set another new peak in a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China. The Norwegian Polar Institute has stated that in 2008 "the levels already in January are higher than 2007" .[1]